Miss Valentine

Apr 19, 2009

Topic: Featured | Tags: , ,


Pin-up photographers are emerging in droves, all over the country, but more often than not the creative behind the camera is male. Just plain fact, women look at the clothing and gravitate towards fashion, men inherently focus on the girl herself. Miss Valentine, the uber gifted point-and-clicker behind Terribly Girly Photography, is one of the few women to get down with photographing the pin-up models of the East, and it stems from her love of kitsch, color and corsets.

You’re currently doing a series of shoots based on circus themes. Why?
For the past three months a lot of girls have been saying ‘I want to do a ringmaster theme or circus theme’. I think what might have prompted the interest was Brittany Spears’ new album Circus, and all the artwork. I’m in Miami so I think there’s a lot of Brittany Spears fans here, but I’ve tried to give it a twist so it’s a little darker, moodier. It’s been fun though because I work with a really great stylist who hand-makes corsets, so she’s made top hats with matching corsets for all the girls.

Do you only shoot digitally?
Yeah, because of my work flow. When I was in school I was doing experimental film and the last year I was there, they got rid of the darkroom and it became the digital darkroom. I gave up film, now everything I put out is digital.

Where did you go to school?
The Art of Fort Lauderdale. It’s interesting, you go to school, you learn some stuff, but once you’re out, you realize ‘I think I’m really learning now’.

How did you get your start in pin-ups?
When I was in school, my portfolio was actually fashion and I interned at a modeling agency that I liked, but something about pin-up was more gratifying in the sense that I got to be selfish, do what I wanted to do. The hair stylist I use now, I met a long time ago when I used to be a freelance makeup artist during school. After school was over, we got together and I proposed that I wanted to do pin-ups as side work. I’ve always loved the style, the illustrations and I thought, it would be cool to get real people to pose in real bright, colorful, kitschy scenes.

How long was it before you were able to do this full time?
When I left school, I was still doing makeup and assisting a photographer who was nice enough to let me use the studio. So it took about a good year before I could do it on my own, and I struggled like crazy. It’s still tough, when you’re in a creative field and you freelance, you’re on your own and there’s no steady paycheck or salary waiting for you. It’s scary but I had to just dive into it, say screw it – I’m going to do this thing.

Where do you get the props for your sets?
The girl that helps me out, she’s an artist too, so we’ll give her ideas and inspiration. We usually use scraps because the prop shops around here are really expensive, even to rent a couch for a day. So we’ll go to Home Depot or a thrift place, and she’ll do whatever she needs to do with what we find. I cannot paint at all, so luckily I have her or I’d be so screwed! Of course it would be helpful to be able to do everything myself, but having a team is good because it means I get to focus on pouring all of my energy into actually taking the picture.

Whose photography style do you really envy?
I love Ellen Von Unwerth. Her style! She’s a fashion photographer but her photographs are very very sexy, full of saturated colors, the black and whites are flawless, and all of her work is enviable in my book.

Who would you love to photograph?
I think any pin-up photographer would say Dita Von Teese because she’s the Queen pin-up, burlesque performer. She’s so gorgeous. If I could shoot an actress, I’d say Rose McGowen. I love how she’s so pale and dark haired. But I also really love Patricia Arquette too. She was great in True Romance, so I’d want to shoot her character in that movie.

See more Terribly Girly here
Also, be sure to check out her band, The Righteous Devices

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